The Great Washington ShakeOut, an annual emergency preparedness drill, will take place across Whatcom County at 10:17 a.m. Thursday, October 17.
As part of the drill, tsunami sirens in Whatcom County and across the state will be activated at 10:17 a.m. There are 13 sirens in the county, including in Blaine and Birch Bay.
The sirens will make the official tsunami wailing noise that is different from the Westminster Chimes played during the first Monday of every month, said Amy Cloud, the public information officer for Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office’s Division of Emergency Management.
At 10:17 a.m. Washington residents are also encouraged to drop, cover and hold as an earthquake drill.
People who have the MyShake Earthquake Early Warning app on their phones will receive a test, NOAA Weather Radios will sound, and some local jurisdictions will test their reverse 911 and opt-in text alerts, according to a press release from the Washington Emergency Management Division (WEMD). The Emergency Alert System will not be tested on the radio or TV, and the Wireless Emergency Alert test system also won’t sound.
The Great Washington ShakeOut is part of International ShakeOut Day, when people across the world participate in earthquake drills. The event allows people near coastal areas to practice tsunami evacuation routes.
WEMD will answer earthquake-related questions on its Facebook page about 10 a.m. October 17. Questions can be emailed to public.education@mil.wa.gov and the responses can be viewed at bit.ly/3NhfeyI.
In the event of a tsunami, people should move inland or to high ground after they feel a strong earthquake, see a sudden rise or fall of the ocean or hear a loud roar from the ocean, according to the WEMD. A tsunami may come before an official warning, such as a tsunami siren, which would sound for over an hour.
According to ShakeOut.org, over one million people in Washington state and over 51.4 million worldwide are participating in this year’s ShakeOut.
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